What you ought to be reading

Julia KellerCHICAGO TRIBUNE

We know about gravity's apple, but when it comes to Newtonian nuance, who knew about the fingerprint kit and the deerstalker's cap?

Who knew, that is, about the detective story that nestles up next to the renowned scientist's experiences at Cambridge University in the 17th Century? Only Rebecca Stott -- and that's because it all comes from her freewheeling imagination. Stott's 2007 novel "Ghostwalk," recently published in paperback by Spiegel & Grau, is a captivating mystery that links Newton's world and the present with gossamer threads of ominous dread and uncanny coincidence. Narrated by a writer named Lydia Brooke, and soaked in the eerie atmosphere of Cambridge University and its past-haunted countryside, "Ghostwalk" is an intellectual thriller with twists and turns that would have entertained even the restlessly clever Newton himself.

Stott's non-fiction book, "Darwin and the Barnacle" (2004), was written with a great deal of feeling for Charles Darwin and his long, patient quest to find the secret of life. A British academic, Stott is one of those rare authors who excels at both fiction and fact.

She is scheduled to appear at 7 p.m. Monday at the Book Stall at Chestnut Court, 811 Elm St., Winnetka. For more information, call 847-446-8880.

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IN THE WEB EDITION

Read 2008 Tribune book reviews at chicagotribune.com/books.

Check out reviews of these books at the same Web site:

"The Crowd Sounds Happy: A Story of Love, Madness, and Baseball," by Nicholas Dawidoff

"Franklin and Lucy: President Roosevelt, Mrs. Rutherfurd, and the Other Remarkable Women in His Life," by Joseph E. Persico